Following on from our chat with Kirsty Mackinnon, our Brand Manager, we also talked about the future of Wemyss Malts and where the brand is heading.
One of the main talking points we came away with is that Kirsty is keen to see the brand continue to 'grow up' in terms of keeping pace with you, the consumer. You may think, since our inception in 2005, we might know by now every intricacy of the industry, but Kirsty doesn't think anyone does, no matter how old. Whisky is continuously evolving and adapting to internal and external factors, and your tastes, wants and needs change in the same way, as you'd expect.
It is keeping pace with this movement that Kirsty is striving to do through various means be it recognising market trends, tracking what it is you really want, and tapping into the best the industry can offer before delivering it to you in the best way possible - by single malt, blended malt or blended scotch.
The main way of kickstarting this adaptation for Kirsty is to engage more effectively and efficiently with the on-trade side of the business. This means holding more tastings, organising more bar events, in a nut shell: increasing brand awareness.
One major aim for Kirsty through this increased engagement is to educate people about blends. The word 'blend' in whisky tends to come with a bit of nose raising and second-tier-ness when put up next to a single malt. However, Wemyss Malts, while it does offer some extremely rare and covetable single malts, also produces some of the most exciting blends, malt or otherwise.
Our Limited Edition, including past favourites like Untold Riches all the way to the newest release Nectar Grove, are examples of Blended Malt Scotch whisky. This means that there are only single malts within the final product. The beauty behind blending is that it is such a skill to get right and requires undivided attention - keep your eyes peeled for a blog on blending where we dig into Isabella Wemyss' mind to try and understand all the processes behind curating our special, award-winning blends.
If you're keen to attend any Wemyss Malts tastings then keep an eye on your local whisky shops and bars and we might just end up coming to you!
The last thing Kirsty and I discussed was the potential for a more dedicated Wemyss Malts brand home - something permanent for you to come and dive into the full range of products we offer. Kirsty says this is the dream - 'having a speakeasy style bar or substantial mobile presence would really add another dimension to the brand and allow for even more engagement with the customer.'
This is still on the wish list but we are ever pressing on to achieve the most we can with what we have. Blending continues full steam ahead to bring you specially curated, vivid expressions, and single casks are being hunted down and brought to you in exciting ways even we haven't thought of yet!